Xbox One could become more powerful without Kinect processing

Microsoft’s Yusuf Medhi has confirmed that the firm is in internal discussions about how its dropping of mandatory Kinect requirements could free up more processing power for games. He’s also said that those early adopters who paid for Kinect have a “premium” experience.

Speaking with Polygon, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for devices and studios Medhi said that the decision to drop Kinect from its bundles came after months of serious discussion, and that both developers and publishers were made aware of the change in advanced.

Speaking with the site, Medhi said, “We remain deeply committed to the Kinect as a core component of a next-generation console. We think that the bio-metric sign-in, voice controls of the menu, ability to say ‘record that’ and capture a moment of gameplay are all critical to the experience.

“We have never wavered from that since the launch.”

He added, “The decision we’re announcing today is offering a choice to people that would allow people to buy an Xbox One and then ramp up to Kinect when they can afford to,” and claimed, “We have over 80 million people who have yet to buy Xbox One.”

When asked if any compensation would be given to those early adopters who paid for Kinect, Medhi replied, “Our view is that the Xbox One with Kinect is the premium experience. The things you are able to do are pretty magical. I think that (early adopters) are hopefully delighted as well with their usage.”

Lastly, Medhi confirmed that Microsoft is now re-appraising Xbox One’s hardware architecture without Kinect, adding, “We are in discussions with our game publishers about what we might do in this space and we will have more to talk about soon.”

What do you make of the Xbox One Kinect u-turn? Let us know below.

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